Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific

Join UCSD professor and curator Caroline Collins and UCSD Provost Angela Booker for a stimulating presentation on our current exhibition on Tuesday, March 25th. Register here. 

As early as the 16th century, people of African descent—free and enslaved—traversed the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They were navigators, explorers, soldiers, and sailors. Black people made livelihoods upon the Pacific, fishing or whaling the Great Ocean. Others carried cargo across its wide expanse or worked its waterfront docks. Black people surfed, swam, and studied the Pacific. Some participated in colonialist activities that dispossessed Indigenous peoples of lands and waterways, while some sought refuge in Native societies. Many established communities in Pacific regions. Whether they engaged with what is now known as the U.S. Pacific on shore or at sea, Black folks are a vital part of its history. 

This exhibit highlights Black folks who took to the Pacific Ocean in ways that transformed their lives, communities, and, at times, nations, between the 1500s and mid-1900s. Their stories are many and their experiences diverse. Yet, an important thread connects them. Black people have deep ties to the Pacific despite historical accounts that often ignore or erase them. This rich history is a living one. Black folks continue to live, work, and play upon the Pacific. 

Take Me to the Water: Histories of the Black Pacific celebrates the deep roots of these connections. This exhibition was curated by Dr. Caroline Collins (UC Irvine / UC San Diego). The title of the exhibit derives from an African American spiritual, “Take Me to the Water.” This song expresses a desire to undergo religious transformation by water baptism. Key collaborators include Project Humanities Advisor Susan Anderson of the California African American Museum, Exhibit Envoy and Amy Cohen, UC San Diego Muir College, and the Maritime Museum of San Diego. 

This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (visit calhum.org to learn more) and the National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.

Image credits:
Officers, apprentices, and crew of the sailing ship Rathdown photographed in San Francisco after
completing a six-month voyage around Cape Horn from Belfast, c. 1892. Miriam Matthews Collection,
UCLA.
From left to right, Grace Williams, Albert Williams, Mary Mingleton, Willie Williams (no relation) in the
segregated section of Santa Monica beach pejoratively known as the Inkwell, 1926. Shades of L.A. Photo
Collection, Los Angeles Public Library.